No Young-min and Kim Hyun-mi Deny All Charges of Exerting Pressure on Company for Lee Jung-geun's Employment
Some Evidence Disputed at Preliminary Hearing
No Young-min, former Chief of Staff to the President, and Kim Hyun-mi, former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who are accused of exerting undue influence on a private company to secure employment for Lee Jung-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Korea, denied all charges at their first trial.
On April 14, the Seoul Central District Court is being secured as the first criminal trial for former President Yoon Seok-yeol's charge of insurrection takes place. Since the night of the 11th until midnight of the same day, the court has strengthened security by prohibiting the entry of vehicles except for essential service vehicles. April 14, 2025 Photo by Joint Press Corps
On the 17th, Judge Im Hye-won of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 19 held the first pretrial hearing for No, Kim, former presidential office personnel secretary Kwon, and former Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport operations support manager Jeon, who were indicted on charges of obstruction of business. Defendants are not required to appear at pretrial hearings. None of the defendants, including No, appeared in court that day.
The defense attorneys for No and Kim denied all charges related to the prosecution's allegations. They also denied the admission of some evidence presented by the prosecution, such as text messages and recorded phone calls. No’s defense requested the provision of all files. Kim’s defense also requested evidence to prove which parts correspond to the alleged facts, stating there was no material to support the allegations. Kim’s side additionally claimed that some of the prosecution’s evidence was illegally obtained.
The court decided to hold another pretrial hearing on June 16 to hear the defendants’ positions regarding the specific charges and whether they agree to the evidence.
Kim and No were indicted on charges of exerting pressure on Korea Integrated Logistics, which is supervised and managed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, to employ Lee in August 2020. The prosecution alleges that Lee was employed as a full-time advisor at Korea Integrated Logistics, thereby obstructing the company’s personnel affairs. Investigations revealed that Lee received approximately 135.6 million KRW in salary and about 14 million KRW worth of a company vehicle lease from August 2020 to July 2021.
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